2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (21 June – 8 July)

[Eye of Ra]

Host countries are Romania (wtf) and Georgia.

Group A:

Portugal
Belgium
Netherlands
Georgia

Group B:

Spain
Croatia
Ukraine
Romania (hahahhaa)

Group C:

Germany
England
Czechia
Israel


Group D:

France
Italy
Norway
Switzerland


Who do you guys think will win it all?

Click to read more...

 

[luiginb]

Where's Sweden?

 

[Eye of Ra]

Where's Sweden?

bad coach

 

[Savant]

Host countries are Romania (wtf) and Georgia.

the final is in Atlanta

 

[Eye of Ra]

the final is in Atlanta

source?

edit: now i get it. good one!

 

[HajdukSplit]

Croatia's defense will take a big hit in this tournament as they decided the guys playing in the Nations League final won't play at this tournament so no Gvardiol, Sutalo or Stanisic, also their best midfielder, Sucic from Salzburg, is out injured. They also have a new manager which basically this tournament is his first games unless they play a friendly in the next week or so, but he has international experience before managing Iran (Dragan Skocic).

 

[cgf]

No Thiaw, ABK, Schade, or Wanner, but Moukoko & Weiper got nominated...wanna see them play together. Feels like our best lineups would be some iteration of:

Weiper - Moukoko
Netz - Krauß* - Stiller* - Knauff
Martel
Dardai - Bisseck/Schmidt - Beyer
Atubolu

Moukoko - Weiper - Knauff
Krauß* - Stiller*
Martel
Netz - Dardai - Beyer - Vagnoman
Atubolu

Weiper - Moukoko
Weißhaupt^ - Martel - Stiller* - Knauff
Netz - Dardai - Beyer - Vagnoman
Atubolu

Weiper
Weißhaupt^ - Moukoko
Netz - Martel - Stiller* - Knauff
Dardai - Bisseck/Schmidt - Beyer
Atubolu


^Thielmann / Ngankam / Alidou
*Krauß / Huseinbasic​

 

[Eye of Ra]

Croatia's defense will take a big hit in this tournament as they decided the guys playing in the Nations League final won't play at this tournament so no Gvardiol, Sutalo or Stanisic, also their best midfielder, Sucic from Salzburg, is out injured. They also have a new manager which basically this tournament is his first games unless they play a friendly in the next week or so, but he has international experience before managing Iran (Dragan Skocic).

which players to keep an eye on?

 

[cgf]

the final is in Atlanta

If you could get good khachapuri in Atlanta, I might have to brave the humidity of the south

 

[Eye of Ra]

No Thiaw, ABK, Schade, or Wanner, but Moukoko & Weiper got nominated...wanna see them play together. Feels like our best lineups would be some iteration of:

Weiper - Moukoko
Schade - Martel - Stiller* - Knauff
Netz - Dardai - Beyer - Vagnoman
Atubolu

Weiper
Schade - Moukoko
Netz - Martel - Stiller* - Knauff
Dardai - Bisseck/Schmidt - Beyer
Atubolu

Schade - Moukoko - Knauff
Krauß* - Stiller*
Martel
Netz - Dardai - Beyer - Vagnoman
Atubolu

*Krauß / Huseinbasic​

If Schade is not there, then why do you have him in the lineups? And is not Ibrahimovic good enough?

 

[cgf]

If Schade is not there, then why do you have him in the lineups? And is not Ibrahimovic good enough?

Whoops, good catch

 

[cgf]

If Schade is not there, then why do you have him in the lineups? And is not Ibrahimovic good enough?

As for Ibra, we don't usually promote too many players from younger age groups to the U21s unless they're prospects like Wirtz & Moukoko that are already pushing for a spot on the senior team; they're dual-nationals that are considering their options, like Wanner or Samardzic; or we lack healthy alternatives.

And none of those apply to Ibra. He hasn't yet started breaking through at the senior level, he isn't considering a switch, he's not even the top candidate for promotion at his position (Wanner & Bischof), and we have older options that could be called on before any promotions were needed (Nmecha & Leweling).


If our U19s hadn't given away their leads to italy & belgium to qualify for the u19 euros we could've seen a number of those 2005ers get promoted from our U18 team this summer.

But with so many of them just starting to make the jump to senior football, it might not be the worst thing for them to focus on their clubs this summer so that they can lead our u19s to a much more successful campaign next season.

 

[HajdukSplit]

which players to keep an eye on?

As I said nobody defensively, pretty much all the talent on this team is in attack. The main prospects are:

- Baturina (Dinamo)
- Beljo (Augsburg)
- Frigan (Rijeka)
- Kacavenda (Lokomotiva)

Baturina is probably the 'next big' midfielder out of Croatia, obviously that means the English media are calling him the next Modric lol, but he's been linked to all the top clubs, had a great season with Dinamo and scored a great goal against England in a U21 friendly recently; Beljo made his move abroad already to Augsburg, as I mentioned in one other thread did better than Pepi despite costing like 5x less if not more. Frigan was the 2nd top scorer in the Croatian league, he will likely go to Dinamo this summer but he has been linked to Rangers and MLS, basically a strong traditional #9. Kacavenda is a tricky one, highly hyped 1-1.5 years ago he suffered a bad knee injury which saw him miss 9-10 months, he only came back in April and didn't make huge impact with Loko, he turned down a move to Serie A before his injury to stay at Loko which was shocking, probably another guy who needs to go to Dinamo before making the jump abroad

 

[cgf]

If Schade is not there, then why do you have him in the lineups? And is not Ibrahimovic good enough?

Now I remember why I did that. That tweet says that Schade will join the U21 team after the senior team's match with Ukraine; which is why I saw him in the senior team's tweet too.

...and even missing the training camp I expect him to make the final 23 & start. He's already integrated with that group and even raw as he is, his physical tools are a problem at that level.

 

[mfilipo3]

As I said nobody defensively, pretty much all the talent on this team is in attack. The main prospects are:

- Baturina (Dinamo)
- Beljo (Augsburg)
- Frigan (Rijeka)
- Kacavenda (Lokomotiva)

Baturina is probably the 'next big' midfielder out of Croatia, obviously that means the English media are calling him the next Modric lol, but he's been linked to all the top clubs, had a great season with Dinamo and scored a great goal against England in a U21 friendly recently; Beljo made his move abroad already to Augsburg, as I mentioned in one other thread did better than Pepi despite costing like 5x less if not more. Frigan was the 2nd top scorer in the Croatian league, he will likely go to Dinamo this summer but he has been linked to Rangers and MLS, basically a strong traditional #9. Kacavenda is a tricky one, highly hyped 1-1.5 years ago he suffered a bad knee injury which saw him miss 9-10 months, he only came back in April and didn't make huge impact with Loko, he turned down a move to Serie A before his injury to stay at Loko which was shocking, probably another guy who needs to go to Dinamo before making the jump abroad

What has happened to Marko Bulat? I remember reading a story about how Covid ruined a move to Barca for him couple of years back, looked promising at Dinamo in the beginning but now hardly gets any minutes?

 

[HajdukSplit]

He played more when Dinamo named Biscan their manager but yeah he wasn't a standard starter for them all season. Don't think he will start for the U21s but again its hard to tell because of the managerial change. The starting DMC was usually Jurica Prsir, a guy who could be heading to the Bundesliga next season

 

[Savi]

On paper Belgium has a very strong group for this tournament

GK: Maarten Vandevoordt (Genk/RB Leipzig), Senne Lammens (Club Brugge), Maxime Delanghe (Lierse)

D: Ignace Van der Brempt (RB Salzburg), Hugo Siquet (Freiburg), Louis Patris (OH Leuven), Ameen Al-Dakhil (Burnley), Zeno Debast (Anderlecht), Koni De Winter (Juventus), Maxim De Cuyper (Club Brugge), Ewoud Pletinckx (OH Leuven)

M: Romeo Lavia (Southampton), Artur Vermeeren (Antwerp), Olivier Deman (Cercle Brugge), Mandela Keita (Antwerp), Eliot Matazo (Monaco), Nicolas Raskin (Rangers), Aster Vranckx (Milan)

F: Johan Bakayoko (PSV), Michel-Ange Balikwisha (Antwerp), Charles de Ketelaere (Milan), Largie Ramazani (Almeria), Yorbe Vertessen (PSV)

 

[luiginb]

Saw De Winter this year quite a lot with Empoli, didn't look even close to Serie A quality.

I'm impressed to hear Vranckx is u-21 he plays and looks like a seasoned pro.

 

[Evilo]

French team is sick on paper but extremely poor on the bench.
Meslier, Bajic and Chevalier at GK
Boey, Simakan, Bade, Lukeba Diakite, etc... On defense.
Caqueret, Chotard, Kone, Le fee and Thuram at CM.
Cherki, Barcola, Adli, Olise at AM
Gouiri, Kalimuendo and Wahi at striker.

EDIT : on the bench as in the coach, not the depth.

 

[Oberyn Martell]

No Thiaw, ABK, Schade, or Wanner, but Moukoko & Weiper got nominated...wanna see them play together. Feels like our best lineups would be some iteration of:

Weiper - Moukoko
Netz - Krauß* - Stiller* - Knauff
Martel
Dardai - Bisseck/Schmidt - Beyer
Atubolu

Moukoko - Weiper - Knauff
Krauß* - Stiller*
Martel
Netz - Dardai - Beyer - Vagnoman
Atubolu

Weiper - Moukoko
Weißhaupt^ - Martel - Stiller* - Knauff
Netz - Dardai - Beyer - Vagnoman
Atubolu

Weiper
Weißhaupt^ - Moukoko
Netz - Martel - Stiller* - Knauff
Dardai - Bisseck/Schmidt - Beyer
Atubolu


^Thielmann / Ngankam / Alidou
*Krauß / Huseinbasic​

Atubolu-Netz-Dardai-Beyer-Vagnoman-Martel-Krauß-Huseinbasic-Weißhaupt-Moukoko-Schade

Looks solid overall. Matriciani, Osterhage and Weiper are the cuts.

 

[cgf]

Atubolu-Netz-Dardai-Beyer-Vagnoman-Martel-Krauß-Huseinbasic-Weißhaupt-Moukoko-Schade

Looks solid overall. Matriciani, Osterhage and Weiper are the cuts.

I think Weiper has a very good chance to make it since he brings something different to our attack even if he can't win a starting spot...and alongside that unique size / speed / skill combo, the kid's just been scoring left & right.

There's a lot more redundancy with Knauff, Schade, Weißhaupt, Thielmann, Alidou, & Ngankam, so that's where I'd look for an offensive cut. But yeah it's an experienced group that is coming into the tourney with good confidence.

Lacking in the creative midfield unless Stiller has a big tournament, but with Moukoko leading the way there should be enough fire-power upfront even without a Burkardt / Nmecha / Samardzic / Wanner / Bischof.

- I really like Netz & Martel at LB & the 6.
- Atubolu is very highly rated and likely to start for SCF next season.
- Dardai is an interesting prospect, who might be our most skilled young CB at any level.
- Bisseck has been strong for the U21 team lately.
- I've liked Schmidt any time I've seen him.
- Beyer reportedly had a strong season in the english 2nd tier.
- Krauß & Huseinbasic had good seasons for Schalke & Köln

Only real changes I would've made...assuming I couldn't get ABK or Thiaw...would've been Breithaupt over Keitel and Nmecha, Wanner, or Bischof over Alidou or Osterhage

EDIT:
Osterhage pulls out due to injury with no replacement being called. So just two cuts to make; guessing Matriciani & Alidou.

 

[Bures Elbow]

Portugal blew their opportunity to win this in 2015/2021 with stacked squads, too many player players are missing due to senior callups/injuries to pose a threat this time around imho.

Antonio Silva/Goncalo Inacio both called to the senior team, and would be starting CB's. Third CB Tiago Djalo is missing due to injury.

RB Joao Mario (Porto) is missing due to injury, as is Da Costa from Lens and Goncalo Ramos who played 3/4 of qualification but is now on the main national team, from an attacking standpoint. Oh and Fabio Carvalho from Liverpool despite playing qualification had a lapse in sanity and told Rui Jorge he's too good for the U-21 team and refused the last round of callups lol.

Squad:
GK: Celton Biai (V. Guimarães), Francisco Meixedo (FC Porto), Samuel Soares (Benfica);

Defense: Penetra (Famalicão), Bernado Vital (Estoril), André Amaro (V. Guimarães), Leonardo Lelo (Casa Pia), Nuno Tavares (Marselha), Tomás Tavares (Spartak Moscovo) e Tomás Araújo (Benfica);

Midfield: Afonso Sousa (Lech Poznan), André Almeida (Valência), Fábio Vieira (Arsenal), João Neves (Benfica), Zé Carlos (V. Guimarães), Paulo Bernado (P. Ferreira), Samuel Costa (Almeria), Vasco Sousa (FC Porto) e Tiago Dantas (PAOK);

Forwards: Fábio Silva (PSV), Francisco Conceição, (Ajax), Henrique Aráujo (Benfica), Pedro Neto (Wolves) e Vitinha (Marselha)


Starting 11 probably:

--------------------Samuel Soares-------------------------
------------Andre Amaro------Tomas Araujo---------------
Tomas Tavares---------------------------------------Nuno Tavares
-----------------Joao Neves--------Andre Almeida------------
---------------------------Fabio Vieira(slides right)----------------
-------Henrique Araujo----------Vitinha------------Pedro Neto-----

 

[Evilo]

Is it bad that I really like Tomas Araujo?

 

[Eye of Ra]

Sweden has a great team right now, too bad our coach f***ing things up.

Oliver Dovin (Hammarby)

Josafat Mendes (Braga)
Noah Eile (Malmö)
Jesper Tolinsson (Lommel)
Daniel Svensson (Nordsjaelland)

Armin Gigovic (Midjylland)
Hugo Larsson (Frankfurt)
Yasin Ayari (Brighton)

Sebastian Nanasi (Malmö)
Anthony Elanga (Man U)
Jacob Ondrejka (Elfsborg)


Some others:

Omar Faraj (AIK)
Noah Persson (Young Boys)
Roony Bardghji (FCK)
Williot Swedbeg (Celta Vigo)
Mayckel Lahdo (AZ)

2 players you guys are not familar is probaly Nanansi and Ondrejka...Nanansi is the new Emil Forsberg, Ondrejka is the new Jesper Karlsson.

And before you all say im being a homer....Sweden the senior NT is not even top 40 right now. So i have no problem being objective.

On paper Belgium has a very strong group for this tournament

GK: Maarten Vandevoordt (Genk/RB Leipzig), Senne Lammens (Club Brugge), Maxime Delanghe (Lierse)

D: Ignace Van der Brempt (RB Salzburg), Hugo Siquet (Freiburg), Louis Patris (OH Leuven), Ameen Al-Dakhil (Burnley), Zeno Debast (Anderlecht), Koni De Winter (Juventus), Maxim De Cuyper (Club Brugge), Ewoud Pletinckx (OH Leuven)

M: Romeo Lavia (Southampton), Artur Vermeeren (Antwerp), Olivier Deman (Cercle Brugge), Mandela Keita (Antwerp), Eliot Matazo (Monaco), Nicolas Raskin (Rangers), Aster Vranckx (Milan)

F: Johan Bakayoko (PSV), Michel-Ange Balikwisha (Antwerp), Charles de Ketelaere (Milan), Largie Ramazani (Almeria), Yorbe Vertessen (PSV)

Players to keep an eye on?

 

[Live in the Now]

Oh and Fabio Carvalho from Liverpool despite playing qualification had a lapse in sanity and told Rui Jorge he's too good for the U-21 team and refused the last round of callups lol.

Some people have repeatedly said this is why Liverpool are getting rid of him and why they stapled him to the bench.